Robert C. Kurtz, MD

Chief, Gastroenterology and Nutrition Service

I am a board-certified internist and gastroenterologist with a special interest in gastrointestinal oncology and gastrointestinal endoscopy. I am the Chief of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Gastroenterology and Nutrition Service and Co-Director the Hepatobiliary Disease Management Team. I am a past chairman of the American Gastroenterological Association’s section on Gastrointestinal Oncology.

My research interests include pancreatic cancer early detection and screening for people with a high risk of the disease because of their family history; identifying risk factors for the development of pancreatic cancer; and the genetics of familial pancreatic cancer.

more…

I led the development of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s pancreatic cancer registry, which is for people at high risk of the disease due to their family history. For the registry, we screen healthy people yearly using MRI to look for lesions that can develop into malignant tumors. If lesions are detected, physicians can follow up with more extensive testing. Pancreatic cancer is difficult to treat, and the disease is almost always fatal without intervention. With our familial pancreatic tumor registry, we hope to identify people with precancerous lesions, or who have an earlier stage of pancreatic cancer.

I am an active leader in hospital affairs, and am a former president of the medical staff at Memorial Sloan Kettering and past-chairman of the Center’s Clinical Council.